Illustration in Context

Fig. 1 Mark Ulriken, (b. 1957) My Name is Mark, 2012, pen and pencil drawing, Israeli exhibition.

.

Rohan Patrick Guest Speaker Reaction San Francisco - ILS-621-0 rpatrick@hartford.edu

“By the time I was a freshman in high school, I realized that playing professional baseball was not in the cards for me,” Mark Ulriksen (Fig. 2) says. “I still liked to draw and paint baseball, so I feel fortunate that I can continue my love for the sport with what I do for Fig. 2 Photographer unknown, Mark Ulriken (b. 1957), 2013, markulriksen.com

a living. I’m not a Yankees fan per se, but I’m a New Yorker at heart, and I can say the Yankees are sure old and beat up.”

After signing up on Mr. Mark Ulriksen blog, I received a copy of his latest illustration via email. The next day I checked my mailbox to find my very own copy of The New York with Mr. Ulriken’s illustration on the front cover (Fig. 3). The cover was about the New York Yankees “hitting 40.” The New Yorker, celebrating the start of another baseball season highlights the Yankees, “old and beaten up.” In his lineup Mr. Ulriken put together the ages of all the players and found the

Fig. 3 Mark Ulriken, (b. 1957), 2013, Acrylic Paint, Hitting 40. The New Yorker, Magazine Cover.

average was forty, “and forty in baseball is old,” he says, with a laugh. In his original painting (Fig. 4), Mr. Ulriken debated about adding outfielder Curtis Granderson, who fractured his wrist, instead he chose to have pitcher Carsten Charles Sabathia as the last person portrayed in this Opening Day lineup. He wanted to show that not every Yankee is disabled as the season starts. Adhering to the smallest detail, Mr. Ulriken removed the Air Force jets flying over the stadium as he was told that the sequester budget cuts in Washington meant that the program was curtailed. Later he was told by his editor to replace Carsten Charles Sabathia with the latest Yankee to go down with an injury, in this case

first baseman Mark Teixeira who just discovered his recent wrist injury was serious enough to require surgery. “These Yankees are dropping like flies folks. I painted Teixeira and the magazine patched it onto the digital file, Voila, cited Mr. Ulriken on his drawger.com website.

After working for 13 years as a graphic designer and magazine art director, Mr. Ulriksen gave it up for a new career as a freelance illustrator and artist. Mr.

Fig. 4 Mark Ulriken, (b. 1957), 2013, Acrylic Paint, Hitting 40. The New Yorker, Magazine Cover.

Ulriksen likes to express his opinion through his illustrations which gives his a great deal of satisfaction. Depending on the assignment, Mr. Ulriken’s processes include, finding the problem, taking notes and gathering as many ingredients as possible. He would produce a rough drawing and gets tighter before presenting it to the client. Born in 1957, Mr. Ulriken grew up South of San Francisco Bay area. He graduated from San Carlos High School in 1975 and later received a bachelor’s degree in visual communication from California State University (Chico State) in 1980. He was married in 1981 to Leslie Rae Flores and later had two daughters, Emma and Lily. Mr. Ulriken’s father worked as an engineer for the Division of Highways and his mother held odd jobs as a real estate title agent. In his family Mr. Ulriken has one younger brother.

Mr. Ulriksen’s illustrations are instantly recognizable and his work has a whimsical take on life. He specializes in figurative work that blends humor and darkness with psychological insight. His editorial illustration work began in the mid-nineties, and since then his paintings have appeared in many of America's leading magazines and newspapers. Mr. Ulriken is best

known for his work for The New Yorker, where he has been a regular contributor since 1993, with more than 30 magazine covers to his credit.

Mr. Ulriken’s incorporates his diverse interests into his subjects which is his style and is done in acrylic paint. What he dislikes about his work is that it is stiff, has poor craftsmanship and that it is mediocre. How Mr. Ulriken feels about his style does not reflect in his achievements. According to the web site en.wikipedia.org, “Mr. Ulriksen's style incorporates his loves of dogs and baseball, as well as drawing on his family and friends (in a manner akin to Norman Rockwell, (b. 1894-1978) to serve as anonymous subjects for his illustrations. It is a style that is expressionistic, quirky, angular, and painterly, with exaggerated features (usually very small hands and feet), but which captures the essence of his subjects dead-on with sweetness, light humor, and joy.”

He covered the 2008 Masters for Golf Digest (Fig. 5) and created murals for clients such as United Airlines and the Chicago Bears. These images can be found on the walls of the United Club at

Fig. 5 Mark Ulriken, (b. 1957), 2008, Oil on Canvas, Masters in Augusta, GA. Golf Digest magazine.

Soldier Field. His dog portraits can be seen in the halls of Kaiser Permanente hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the regular illustrator for the San Francisco Jazz Festival, as well as a children's book illustrator, and the recipient of numerous awards, including Gold and Silver medals from the NY Society of Illustrators. His 2006 New Yorker cover parody of the film Brokeback Mountain (Fig. 6) was named the year's top magazine news cover by the Magazine Publishers of America. Mr. Ulriksen's work is in the permanent Fig. 5 Mark Ulriken, (b. 1957), 2005, Oil on Canvas, Watch Your Back Mountain, The New Yorker, Magazine cover.

collection of The Smithsonian and the Library of Congress.

Mr. Ulriken now balances his time between illustration assignments, children's books, gallery work and private commissions, primarily family portraits and dog portraits.

References: 1. http://www.markulriksen.com/about.html 2. http://www.drawger.com/thethirdman/ 3. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/04/cover-story-mark-ulriksenbaseball.html 4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Ulriksen#Artistic_style